Victorian Stewards not to pursue arsenic case

The Australian Racing Board is set to approve a second laboratory to conduct testing after Victorian stewards decided not to pursue an irregularity to arsenic detected from a Moonee Valley winner last September.

Racing Victoria stewards didn’t reveal the name of the trainer of a winner on Manikato Stakes night after one of the swabs taken that night tested positive to arsenic.

The Australian rules of racing require two official racing laboratories to detect the presence of a prohibited substance and as the Hong Kong Jockey Club was the only laboratory to test for the illegal substance, no charges were laid due to insufficient evidence.

“The irregularity was detected during the standard screening process of 70 swab samples sent to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Laboratory to test for the prohibited substance ITPP,” Dayle Brown, Racing Victoria general manager of integrity said.

“Standard practice requires that the reserve sample is analysed by a second laboratory to confirm the irregularity and provide stewards with the grounds to make an informed decision on whether they pursue the matter under the rules of racing.

“Our investigation established that there is not a second laboratory approved by the Australian Racing Board that is capable of conducting quantitative testing for arsenic and for this reason we have not pursued charges under the Rules of Racing.”

The Australian Racing Board will consider at its March meeting the prospect of approving a second laboratory under the Rules of Racing to conduct quantitative testing for arsenic.

Author: Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.